Fractured Bonds
by Yusei
Summary: Alone in this cruel world. A world not whole, the remnants of that place loved slowly fade beneath the chaos that has engulfed everything. A world shattered; the shadow of a Signer still wanders amongst the darkness. AU following Episode 58. Chapter 1 revised.
1. Chapter 1

**Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - Fractured Bonds**

by Yusei

_**Summary - **"AU. _Alone in this cruel world. A world not whole, the remnants of that place loved slowly fade beneath the chaos that has engulfed everything. A world shattered; the shadow of a Signer still wanders amongst the darkness_"._

_**Disclaimer – **__I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's or any of the characters._

_**A / N – **__Like 'Crimson', this was planned a long time ago and got pushed aside due to bursts of inspiration for other fics that have been updated since. This particular one was planned during the weeks of Jack and Carly's duel under the idea of 'what would happen if Carly's vision was truth?' It since expanded to include more characters and bring in more minor characters that could be useful, just for something different. This does include themes such as death, violence and the like, with a few suggested pairings. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review._

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><p>Echoes haunt the blackest nights. Tremors rattle the country in the dimmest days. The streets had been stained by the blood of innocent civilians fleeing for their forsaken lives; the stench of death tainted the once fresh air. The fabled horrors of the Apocalypse were nothing compared to the real thing, leaving a fraction of mankind clinging to life. Every day, the number sharply decreased. Six divinities were said to have risen approximately around the time of the event, some falling before the collision between Earth and the Underworld; Hell. Those that had suffered overthrow returned, as though nothing had happened. Mankind struggled and four individuals were chosen to face the great beasts.<p>

Failure awaited them.

Some theorise that souls of the departed wander the planet, trapped by the wretched divinities that bind everything to the Earth. Economies collapsed after the rise of the towering beings, natural disasters occurring weekly, countries devastated. Japan was, by far, the worst affected region, the country where the battle for mankind's survival began and ended in tragedy. Though strong-willed and capable, the four duellists standing opposite the beasts, known as Earthbound Gods, were unable to overcome the terror that awaited the Earth, falling amongst their allies prophesied to be incapable of defeating the returned souls, tainted by blackness.

Four chosen individuals, each bearing a symbol of the legendary Crimson Dragon. Four tragic stories.

The first belonged to the Wings. Pride consumed Jack Atlus when a gateway opened to him through the Maintenance Pipeline connection between the devastated Satellite and the prestigious Neo-Domino City from which the former originated. Guided by the two servant dragons of the Crimson Dragon that were in his possession, he rode on into a new life. Red Demons stretched its wings and soared into a place where he felt he belonged. However, the one who he betrayed to climb to the top of the duelling world with his partner by his side emerged two years later like a nightmare returning to haunt him. Jack Atlus fell to the other man at the tournament designed to seek out the Signers, known as the Fortune Cup. It wasn't long after the tournament that he met a young girl with sleek black hair and glasses that hindered any view of her shimmering eyes, filled with a thrill for life. One girl by the name of Carly Nagisa. That ill-fated girl perished in the war between Signers and Dark Signers, life and light against death and darkness. When she stood firmly behind Jack, she plummeted to her death, rising opposite him as an enemy in need of destroying. While he was somewhat prepared to take her on, he ultimately failed.

And the darkness claimed him.

The other male Signer had been one Fudo Yusei. The Signer of the Tail who once held and lost Stardust Dragon. The glistening white and blue dragon that could light the night sky. Two years after losing the card to Jack, Yusei pursued the thief who had forced him into a corner. The only thing that changed about him was the yellow Marker imprinted onto his left cheek after being apprehended by the authority in the City. He later met with each of the other Signers, placing a role in uniting them at the Fortune Cup where he overthrew Jack, standing proudly with Stardust in his hand once again. He travelled to the place he grew up to find that a close friend from the past had met the same fate as Carly; suffered an end to their life and rose with murderous intentions. Kyosuke Kiryu had his sights set on Yusei because of an incident that occurred in their history, the former believing the latter had sold him out to the same authorities that arrested him two years later. The Tail Signer met with defeat, pierced in the waist by a piece of debris; however, Kiryu did not end everything there. He decided to prolong the suffering of his former friend and allowed him to live. Yusei gathered the Signers and led the return to Satellite days later. A second encounter with Kiryu brought the catastrophic demise of Team Satisfaction to an end, ushering in Kiryu's time to rest. Enraged, Yusei raced off to find the man responsible for his father's death and the incident that split Satellite from Neo-Domino, one Rudger Godwin. The same fate that embraced Kiryu caught up with Rudger after seventeen years and his body was reduced to dust, but not before he gave one final warning - a being known as the Underworld King was set to rise.

That was when he detonated the device in his mechanical arm, ripping the bridge over the whirlpool of Momentum apart and leaving Yusei to descend.

And the darkness claimed him.

The third story, of the Rear Claw, began with most tragic circumstances. The only child of a senator in Neo-Domino, Hideo Izayoi. His daughter, Aki, grew through her childhood waiting for him to spare a moment for her. And when he finally did, his occupation beckoned him, snapping the final straw of the girl's patience and awakening the dormant psychic abilities in her. And with it, the Rear Claw Birthmark. The fatal slip of tongue in calling Aki a monster tore the Izayoi clan apart. Aki moved onto attend the City's Duel Academy and returned one night to find her parents enjoying themselves. No longer accepting of the ordinary world, she fled from home and school, winding up in the arms of Divine, a man belonging to the Arcadia Movement. There she believed she found a home, and remained there as she changed from a girl to a woman. The end of her time in the society came when the woman received an invitation to the Fortune Cup, where Divine believed it would be a suitable place to bring the Movement from the shadows of civilisation. That was when she confronted the Signers that bore the corresponding Birthmarks as she. She overcame her initial hate because of Fudo Yusei, only to enter the Arcadia Movement's walls again and hide. Then two Dark Signers arrived, one targeting Aki and the other exacting revenge on Divine - Carly Nagisa, unbeknownst to Aki. Divine plummeted to his demise and Aki fell into a brief coma. Once again, it was Yusei who came to help her see the light and finally succeeded. Once the group touched down on Satellite soil, Aki and Sagiri Mikage raced out to the furthest destination - the Lizard Tower. They arrived at an amusement park called _"Monster World"_ and separated.

Izayoi Aki was never seen again.

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><p><strong>Chapter 01 - Regret<strong>

The former-world has ceased to exist since the dreaded war between Signer and Dark Signer, ending in the victory of the latter. An incomplete team of four pitted in the opposite corner of a united front, a complete set of five with reserves. Humanity's darkest hour, stretched into months and years. The battlefield – Neo-Domino City – had been razed; once streets lined with skyscrapers, some housing the largest companies in the world, towers of residences, all gone. The envy of many cities around the world had been reduced to nothing, scattered ruins and a sea of debris. The deadly cycle of five millennia had claimed the planet's surface after only the second round.

Shadows flitted through the devastation, forced to pilfer whatever they could find in order to survive, rationing what small meals they could salvage. Help from the outside world hadn't come in months; other countries also struggling with the fallout from the collapse of the City. Japan as a whole was left on the brink of disaster; its economy had taken a massive blow from Neo-Domino's destruction, resulting in chaos for the international market. Countries were struggling; aid was frequently attacked by the demons that ruled the land. Japan had been disowned by the UN for the safety of other nations, all struggling for survival themselves. Riots ruled the planet, chaos reigning as emperor of the animalistic societies born from collapse and strive. Then the demons expanded their territory and moved across the seas.

A large proportion of humanity had been executed by the invasion of the demonic giants, threatening the remainder with extinction at any time. But they watched over the struggling survivors like entertainment, taking their places on the thrones in their trophy of Neo-Domino City – the beginning and the end.

The City's buildings were a fraction of their former glory, the tallest retaining its previous title – the homes of the richest named the Tops. The building was no longer safe for human residence, the upper half severed, decimated by the demons' rampage. The skies above the remnants was dyed scarlet, black clouds circling around like a deadly spiral; daylight never made it through the hellish roof.

In the shadow of the crushed tower, a young man stood, gazing at the surviving sections of the building. The adolescent's auburn hair hung limply either side of his head, cracked squared lens fitted into frames hung in front of his eyes – half-closed and tawny in colour. The eyes of a haunted soul.

The ghosts of those who had lived within the tower loomed around him, whispering and lamenting, wishing for freedom from the apocalyptic world they had been trapped in. At least, that was what he told himself – there was no-one. None of the families he was acquainted with, none of the children he played with. The twins…

Hayano Tenpei's eyes narrowed further, glistening with the brimming of tears soaking the base of his sockets. Each day that passed since the City's destruction slowed to the pace of a snail, dragging on like months or years. Each prolonged minute ached of remorse and regret. Tenpei's head sank, vision tumbling to the scattered fragments of the City he once called home. A heavy sigh left the teenager's ghostly lips, fingers rising and pressing themselves across his right eye, sliding underneath the glass and scratching the growing tears away. In a world of pride, men weren't allowed to cry. In a world over, there was almost no-one to care.

Tenpei grasped the hood of the thick shirt he had salvaged form the remains of his home, an aquamarine shirt and jeans that hung loosely over his stick-like legs. His closest friends had once lived in the building, able to gaze at the entire city from their rooftop dwelling. His heart sank, thinking back to the smiling faces of the teal-haired children and turned his back on the remains. In time with a heavy sigh, Tenpei slid his pale hands into the pouch of his hoody, limping away from the site of his childhood memories with his sights low. His posture only reflected a fraction of the weight on his heart; it had been months or years – he could no longer tell with the absence of dawn and dusk – since he could smile. Or feel alive.

It was in the Daimon Area, already notorious in the days of society and human rule, where the ghostly girl stood in a mood even worse than Tenpei's. Golden eyes dimmed by endless depression, almost as though the light had vanished entirely during the times of darkness. A burgundy shirt with yellow markings running across the centre and edges with sleeve extending three-quarters of her arms' length. Over the jumper, a shell-pink jacket resembling a hoody itself with much shorter sleeves, accompanied by white shorts. Her spring-green hair had been divided into two pigtails, tied by blue hairbands and locks hanging over her shoulders, reaching out for her torso.

Unlike Tenpei, there was no sign of emotion in her eyes; only the exhaustion that came with living in the hellish world, struggling to come to terms with the heavy losses humanity had suffered. She surveyed the ruptured plaza where underground duels had once taken place, luring in those seeking adventure – it had never been the type of scene she wished to be caught in. But the lure of such duels brought in secret crowds from other sectors of the city. The girl pressed onwards, treading deeper into the obliterated land. She had never seen the appeal of the area, nor the fascination surrounding it – but due to its original, neglected state, it was the area of the city that resembled its pre-Apocalyptic state. She paused in the centre of the land, able to spot chunks of rubble sporting the white paint that once marked out a duelling field, her eyes closed and air escaped through her nostrils; a mute sigh, the acknowledgement that the desolate planet she loitered in wasn't that which she cared for.

A shadow crept over the miniature dam of debris; crumbled pieces of building and torn road; bricks and concrete. Hayano Tenpei clambered over the trench cautiously; even in a world littered with the remnants of the last, he was much more cautious than most, the embodiment of rationality to those who knew him. He paused whilst balancing above the miniature range, eyeing the sickly pale girl standing ahead blankly. Even from a distance, he could recognize her among the lingering shadows of the presumably coming night. Tenpei staggered forward, clambering down the trench of rubble and moved towards the young girl no older than himself. He cautiously approached the girl who showed no sign of acknowledging his presence, lost in her own detached world, pushing Tenpei to creep discreetly, leaning forward to check the girl's awareness so as not to startle her.

"Ruka?" he muttered.

The girl's head appeared to flinch faintly, twisting to reveal her ghostly, worn face to the young man. Tenpei smiled vaguely, relieved that she could still react to the living damned. She showed no sign of positivity back, watching him with the same drained, dimmed eyes and unreadable expression, as though another living soul was a foreign concept to her. It wasn't an unusual matter; Tenpei couldn't blame her as seeing her in such a state neutralized the small smile quickly, resuming the sorrowful expression he had worn shortly before. After all, there had been another like her, appearance-wise at least. He let out a small chuckle, shoulders bobbing with hollow fondness of the peace.

"You know… It's too quiet" he added. ".. Without Rua…"

Ruka failed to respond; the subject of her brother was still an untreated wound; mental scars that would never heal, no matter how much time passed. There had been peaceful days in the past when the two would attend the Duel Academy fashioned after the original, decades before, along with Tenpei and a collection of the city's aspiring duellists. Ruka's eyes slid closed, reflecting on such times; happier days when the eccentric boy's lively nature would brighten even the grimmest of mornings. Those times cut deeper into her wounded heart, pushing tears through the slits and reaching for her eyelashes. The girl kept her eyes closed, squeezing them in an effort to prevent the escape of the tears.

Tenpei said nothing, watching melancholically. There was never going to be an easy way of bringing up the male twin in conversation – he had played a large role in both lives, leaving tremendous holes in their hearts and damaging their previous personalities with his absence. Ruka, who had once been as cautious and optimistic as Tenpei, had been rewritten into a depressed and antisocial member of the miniature society made of Neo-Domino's survivors. It pained Tenpei to witness such a dramatic transformation, especially as there had been nothing he could do about it – he had tried all kinds of options, but nothing could salvage the Ruka he had grown up with.

A moment of silence dragged on, leaving Tenpei feeling awkward and guilty over his mentioning the missing twin.

"Rua…"

His eyes shot back to Ruka, watching as her eyes opened gradually; glittering with sorrow and unfulfilled desire. All she wished for was the return of her brother; one of so many she had lost as a result of the clash between Signer and Dark Signer, of which, she was the only confirmed survivor. Tenpei exhaled with a heavy heart, advancing a step towards the girl and laid a hand onto her shoulder. He flinched after touching the sinking skin, stunned by how thin Ruka had grown, her shoulder blade sticking out as though it could tear through the skin clinging to bone.

She was supposed to be at an age when appearance was everything; perhaps even she would have fallen under that umbrella if the world was still whole. He would never know; something that pained him. When the three had been mere children attending Duel Academy, he had looked at her often, wondering how beautiful she would grow to be, hiding the faintest signs of growing affection for the sister of his best friend. A sister who no longer existed, departed with her brother.

"I hope…" he choked, swallowing the lump that had grown in his throat. "That he's doing well… Up there with Bob… Wherever they are".

Ruka's eyes opened narrowly, glistening with tears of grief, flooding her eyes immediately as they were exposed to the chilled air. Rua had been fighting for her – had she not wished desperately for his protection, his presence in the face of such a terrifying enemy, there was a much greater chance he would have survived the rising of Hell. He had been selfless, rushing to shield her from the Dark Signer marching towards her, clutching the dragon she had lost, sacrificing himself for her sake. He had been the one who put his life on the line to contend with the Monkey Earthbound God when she was supposed to; he had offered himself up to fate in her place. It was guilt that weighed heavily on her heart.

Although he had managed to survive the opening stages of the battle as a result of protection from her returning the favour; that had not been enough. The Crimson Dragon had fled the world, leaving the Signers to defend themselves and let Rua down, leaving him vulnerable to the wandering reaper. Ruka clenched her hands, pressing them as one over her chest and sniffed, struggling in her battle to keep the tears back from their escape. Tenpei watched the display sympathetically; he understood that Ruka blamed herself for what had transpired, and as a result, had been determined to hide her emotions. But each time, the immense strength of loss overpowered her.

Rua had survived the initial war, something that none of the other Signers appeared to have achieved, but his fate had been grim in the following stages. The Signers failed to achieve their goal of sealing the Momentum towers by dusk, leaving the gate to unlock and the Meikai no Ou to rise from the depths of the Underworld and begin the chain of events that ended the world. Old Momentum and New Momentum were connected, allowing the power to spiral out of control once more, amplified by a terrifying degree by the influence of the Earthbound Gods and sealing humanity's fate. Zero Reverse happened once more, stealing millions more lives than the initial incident. The same place where thousands perished, even after the initial damage was done.

Rua had been alive then.

No more.

The army of six demons were responsible for the Apocalypse that ruled over the remnants of mankind, the enemies lost returned to the planet's charred surface by the rise of Hell, splitting the Underworld into two levels. Six individual beings that had since tainted a Signer of the fallen Crimson Dragon and sealed the planet's fate. The Spider, the Hummingbird, the Giant, the Lizard, the Monkey and the Whale. Six menacing divinities that conquered the Earth where they failed five-thousand years previously. Of five dragons that served under the so-called supreme Crimson Dragon, only one was known to exist anymore.

"It's strange… isn't it?"

Tenpei's faintly amused tone directed Ruka's attention back to the brunette, finding a half-hearted smirk on his face. "What is it?"

"The people here… they always used to judge and discriminate against the people in Satellite. They would talk about how those people deserved the conditions they lived in" he claimed, snorting at the very beliefs of the generations before them; the people from which they had been born. "But now Neo-Domino is in the same state. If not much worse than the way Satellite had been back when. That place could be on the brink of complete collapse for all we know, but people are too scared to think outside surviving themselves. Basic human nature: selfishness. This place that once hated Satellite and left it in that state has become the victim to the same fate. Ironic, huh?"

"Tenpei…" Ruka breathed.

She had never even considered that brunette possessed such a wise, yet cynical outlook on the city's elitist population. Her head hung, eyes narrowed by the idea of growing up in such a society had the Signers not appeared in their lives. Would she and Rua have come to look down on those less fortunate as they grew older and more experienced? At least… not Rua. He was far too gentle and kind, always thinking of someone else, to become such a cold-hearted person. Tenpei smiled gently, understanding her thoughts as good as any mind-reader and squeezed her shoulder tighter, holding back in fear that he could easily snap the blade of the fragile companion without even trying.

"How are you doing nowadays?" he inquired.

Ruka twisted her head, eyeing him with the same dulled look that had covered her innocence for the past three years – the same damaged and lost expression. Tenpei bit his bottom lip; Ruka's ability to express herself properly deteriorated rapidly after she was left alone – Rua's departure had unintentionally snatched her happiness, leaving her a bitter young woman, almost resembling the witch that once been Izayoi Aki.

"I'm hanging in there" she answered eventually. "But what about you? Patty has been wanting to see you for some time now".

"Is that so?" Tenpei asked. He averted his sights, examining the area around them, abandoned where once crowds would have come to witness the Black Rose Witch's violent tendencies. "It's still hard to come to terms with what we've lost. Maybe I should be treasuring the fact that I still have you and Patty, I shouldn't mope over what's happened to everyone else…"

"Rua wouldn't want anyone to be sad" Ruka choked, tears filling the bottoms of her sockets once more, body shivering with the failing fight to keep them contained. "But he wouldn't have wanted any of this to happen. He would have been strong, he could have carried everyone and been the hero he always wished to be".

"I see…" Tenpei sighed. "I still think about what wonders he could have done for a world finished like this, what small light of hope he could ignite. It would be just like him to insist on fighting, even when our backs are against the wall like this. How many have we lost? How many people are missing that we could never imagine life without? I always expected Rua to hang around in the same way until he got a job, unless, that is, he made it to the Pro League. I swear he had that potential in him". His auburn eyes, shimmering with fond memories of the lost twin, shifted back to Ruka, who watched his spirits rise. "What about you, Ruka?"

"It's the same, really" she answered solemnly. "Rua was always an amazing duellist, he would have easily made it to the Pro League, regardless of how he graduated from Duel Academy. He would have been just like everyone else… Just when I began to feel like I was bonding really well with them… Yusei, Jack, Crow, Aki-san… and now… They're all gone. Jack is walking this place as a Dark Signer, taken in by that girl who possesses the Hummingbird and Yusei vanished into Old Momentum when he defeated Rudger. It's not fair… why was he revived and not Yusei?"

"Ruka…" Tenpei whispered.

"There's been nothing from Aki-san or Crow" the haunted girl continued. "They disappeared when we got separated three years ago. Crow said he was going back to protect the orphans, he couldn't see anymore he could do without a Birthmark. And we never found Aki-san after splitting up to confront the Dark Signers. We were supposed to be a team, but we separated to face the problem before time ran out. But… we couldn't do it".

Ruka's hands rose, folding over her chest and grasping the closing arms. Her shoulders jolted, unwittingly shaking Tenpei's hand away. The brunette allowed his hand to fall by his side, watching his childhood friend wistfully as the tears finally broke free and slipped down her ghostly face.

"But even though we fought so hard to save everyone, the instant they won, everyone that was beaten was revived and we were not just thrown back to square one, but much further" the young girl sobbed. "I let everyone down, Tenpei".

No matter how many times he protested the claim, she continued to believe it. Consumed by despair and guilt, claiming that it should have been Yusei or Jack or Aki that had lived to face the Dark Signers in the doomed world. Someone that would have been strong enough. He sighed, clenching his fists passionately; even if she would dispute the idea, he had to press on. Rua would have.

"You let no-one down, Ruka" he answered firmly. "You did your bit – it was Izayoi Aki and Jack Atlus would failed to defeat their opponents before the revival of the Meikai no Ou. Rua helped you take down that guy, Demak, you did everything that was asked of you".

Ruka twisted her neck, peering over her shoulder to the brunette with her flooded face. Tenpei's expression softened, preceding the tapering eyes that locked onto him, pushing more tears out and streaming down the narrow streams flowing down her face.

"Tenpei…" Ruka managed a strained whisper.

"It's alright" Tenpei responded, raising his hands.

His arms were raised slightly, offering a shoulder to cry on, signalling to the girl that it was fine to enter his arms and he would offer the comfort that Rua would have. Ruka examined the pose of her childhood friend and lifted her sight to his face once more, checking the gentle smile was still there. And indeed, it was, welcoming her warmly. Ruka bit her bottom lip, forcing down all urges to wail in despair and merely tipped forward, falling into his arms that closed around her. Tenpei closed his eyes gently, feeling Ruka's ragged breathing against him, jolting in her arms, restrained sobs and tears that leaked onto his hooded shirt.

As far as the girl was concerned, she had failed once Yusei vanished into the light of Momentum, Jack had been recruited as a Dark Signer and Aki had disappeared without a trace. Inside, however, he felt the same heavy weight upon his heart; he felt terrible to have survived without a reason – he wasn't a Signer, he hadn't fought, but he had escaped the wandering reaper. His cheek brushed against Ruka's hair, followed by a hand sneaking up her back and pressing itself against the back of her skull. His eyes moved to the desolate scenery around them; a place that once promised a bright future to younger generations as they worked for the years ahead .Those promises broken when their future had become a nightmare. For those that survived, those who had perished were sometimes considered the lucky ones – they escaped, they could see a happier world and flee from that which followed.

His arms tightened around his distraught former-classmate, standing alone in the wasteland that had been their glorious hometown with the sun shining brightly overhead, gazing in despair at the aftermath of their living world. Their futures.

Everything they had ever known.

Torn apart and left in ruins. The curse of the living.

The world that Rua had escaped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - Fractured Bonds**

by Yusei

_**Summary - **"AU. _Alone in this cruel world. A world not whole, the remnants of that place loved slowly fade beneath the chaos that has engulfed everything. A world shattered; the shadow of a Signer still wanders amongst the darkness_"._

_**Disclaimer – **__I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's or any of the characters._

_**A / N – **__I apologize that there has been such a delay in updating this. I initially lost inspiration and had to rework issues that had occured in the original plan. But it isn't a fic I intend to give up on - the same for the others that are in desperate need of updates, so I thank those who have been patient and taken the time to read this so far. To answer the question posed in Fire's review - Yusei, Aki and Crow will appear in the story, though in their own different ways as they still play a major role, but I cannot reveal further. Jack will also make an appearance shortly, as these chapters merely portray the setting before the Dark Signers come into the fray once more. Again, I thank those who have read and waited, this won't be a big fanfic, but something to place minor characters at the centre and shouldn't be too long. Please read and review._

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><p>Elsewhere in the ruins of the City, Ruka later trekked alone a couple of hours later after recovering. Tenpei had departed for the site where he had survived the past couple of years – after Rua escaped, the group was split further by despair, others leaving under the claim they were clearing their heads, only to settle elsewhere. The dissolution of survivors worsened Ruka's thinking, initially leaving her with the conclusion that it had been because she was weak and failed to protect Rua the way he had always looked out for her.<p>

Ruka's mind was scattered, thoughts disorganized and unfocused. She dragged herself forward, trying to centre on her destination – the makeshift shelter where she hid away with several friends that had made it through the end of humanity. As far as she could see, the road was ahead was torn with battle scars that weren't supposed to exist – war wasn't supposed to happen in the centre of such a large populated city. But the concepts of mankind were foreign to the Earthbound Gods, they had no understanding nor caring for the ways that laws of people; the upper world that they had twisted into their demonic domain.

In the centre of the long road, a white tent stood from the front of a building that, even three years on, Ruka couldn't be sure what it had been. The makeshift extension had been fixed against the crumbling building's front face, taking up a large portion of the road and running along the edge of several buildings in order to house the number hiding underneath The site could even be a relief for the drained teen to find looming over the continuous black and brown of the what had once been a city brimming with a multitude of colours. Ruka staggered towards the marquee, made of a battered white sheet that would have housed celebrations in past times. It was the closest the group had to shelter, unless they taking refuge within the seemingly protective walls of surviving houses. But there was nowhere guaranteed to be safe. Not anymore… in a world of destruction and death. Even the Earth was turning against those who remained; shaking the land with vicious earthquakes routinely, knocking down more of the old world.

Ruka's slow progress came to a complete halt close to the door hanging over the entrance; her eyes scanned the frail building, initially ignorant of the opening passage. In the space, a dark-skinned girl stood, dressed in a white jumper decorated with pink markings across the arms and a heart in the centre of the torso, a small tear cut into the reshaped organ. Her arms folded over the flat chest, wearing an anxious face whilst watching her distracted friend gazing aimlessly around the fabric building. Her presence caught Ruka's eye and led her back to the doorway, watching the blonde with a bland face in contrast to her concern. Patty offered a vague smile, pleased that Ruka had managed to return safely. Ruka hesitated, advancing only one step after a moment of frantic thought, her head tilted downwards as she moved over the perimeter of the small camp.

"Patty…" she uttered.

The blonde felt a chill rush by, like a cold, dead breeze. There had always been something different about the way the Paris-green haired girl spoke her name after he depressive state took a hold of the bright girl that had once been by her side. Someone that unnerved her, to think of such a drastic transformation. Like Ruka, her hair was fashioned into two pigtails that had since lost life, but managed to retain their thicker and longer qualities over the withering green strands hanging either side of Ruka's head.

"Ruka" she answered carefully. Like Tenpei, he managed a faint smile following a relieved sigh. "I was wondering where you went to".

Ruka tilted her head forward, hanging guiltily in front of the brighter blonde. "I'm sorry" she apologized discreetly. "I shouldn't have gone off like that without someone knowing, it was stupid and selfish".

Patty's smile disintegrated quickly; it was difficult to believe that the girl standing before her, a shadow of the child she once knew, was the same bright child that topped all classes they shared at the Duel Academy. She had been reshaped by the world's demise; her former personality spirited away with her brother, leaving behind a broken shell struggling to come to terms with the end of the world that they had survived. She would frequently assert that her apparent failure in preventing the victory of the Meikai no Ou had been a part she had played in the Apocalypse – ignoring that she had been one of a team that dispersed and suffered their individual fates. Merely because she was the only Signer to have survived, to have lived among the survivors and suffered another blow to her shattered self-esteem. No-one blamed the girl; not those who had died, nor those who endured the ruined world. Only her heavy consequence bearing responsibility of so many others.

"That's not true" she insisted. "You're putting too much pressure on yourself. You're free to do whatever you want. No-one blames you for what happened and no-one will be angry at you for just trying to clear your head. There's a lot you'd want to clear, after all".

Patty stepped forward, wrapping her hand around the frail girl's slim arm and gripping it cautiously; like Tenpei, she had known Ruka before the incidents that transpired, she had watched her deteriorate and waste away, sinking in guilt. A small smile was all she could offer, unsure what more there was that she could try; lifting the girl's spirit seemed to have been ruled out countless months ago – she was a ghost wandering the world. And it hurt Patty to consider that as the reality in front of her. She exhaled once more, struggling to consider what topic she could move to. There was no telling what new thoughts she had mutated to lay further blame on herself.

"Have you heard anything of Tenpei?" she eventually inquired.

Ruka nodded silently, delivering hope to the blonde whose eyes lit up. She held back any audio to her elation, allowing the green-haired companion to progress.

"I saw him a couple of hours ago" she answered. "He seemed fine, the same as always. He said he was doing well".

A relieved sigh was released from Patty with a smile. She laid a hand over her heart, showing the extent of her joy at the update.

"I'm glad" she responded jovially. Her brightness then shrank away, seeming to edge closer to depression of her own. "I just wish… he'd come here and stay with us. That way, we can all be together. I haven't seen anything of Sly for some time; I'm starting to worry about him too".

Ruka's eyes slinked away from the face of her companion, staggering through the ruins of the city; browned rubble towers merging with the dull red sky above. Sly had been another youngster who attended the Academy with them, a mysterious boy who Ruka had been eager to become friends with, but his insistence on being left alone made that a struggle each time. Rua wouldn't approve of the dark-haired student with what he deemed a bad attitude, but Ruka was nonetheless captivated by him. And by trying to get close to him, she had dragged him into the warzone. That was what she told herself, warning her against feeling the desire to get close to another. She couldn't bear the heartache that came with separation and tragedy that would inevitably come with the connection.

Patty moved closer, rubbing her hand vertically along the arm she held onto.

"Don't worry" she whispered, leaning forward to move into Ruka's redirected sight. "We'll stay together until the end. But that's not coming any time soon; we'll get through all this. There's going to be something that we can do".

She followed Ruka's watery sight across the desolate scene around them, stretching endlessly to the bloody horizon. The city, the world, lost behind the broken remains. Patty's sight turned back to Ruka; just as always she wished that there was a way for her to smile again, just like in the past days they could never return to. Even if a miracle would occur and the world could be salvaged from its team of dictators, there would be some damage beyond repair.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 02 - Connection<strong>

The door to the tented camp was thrown aside easily when a brunette man staggered in, his body clothed in a white shirt and brown vest, joined by trousers matching the open piece. Saiga was the name of the arrival, limping into the makeshift hospital – the closest to medical aid since the annihilation of those in the city and the eradication of any aid sent by other nations. There was little hope for the survivors, but the attempt at another would bring a glimmer to those in need. The man's eyes scanned the room, landing on Ruka, who had taken a seat in the corner of the wide chamber, her fingers tapping relentlessly on the keyboard of a laptop set in front of her. Her pale skin glowed blue from the light emitted from the monitor blazing in front, additionally lighting her eyes. He paced towards her, his presence unnoticed by the girl whose attention was fixed solely on the machine left behind; recovered for Yusei from his hideout in the abandoned subway following his initial duel with one of the demons and their vessels.

Yusei never did recover from his crippling fear of the Earthbound Gods. Although, according to Ruka, he shouldered those concerns and battled regardless for the sakes of so many trapped within their blackened bodies, sealed away within the demonic beating hearts of the revived. Innocent people caught in a battlefield and sacrificed to push the war forward. It wasn't uncommon for repeats of the horrific feasting to take place – approximately, once per year, the demons would suck up the souls of more to feed themselves and keep their presence in the hellish world stable. They would soon run out of souls to feast upon; the number of humans left in the world had dwindled rapidly, reducing the population of the planet to a shockingly low amount. Contact between the countries had grown strained and it was estimated that there could be only millions left, if even that.

It seemed, however, that other resources still existed – power had been pushed back to the age of electricity, allowing necessary equipment to function and food, whilst usually scarce, was still available to keep the struggling alive. It was fortunate that technology had been compatible with its predecessors, allowing Ruka's present activities on the laptop, struggling to connect to the Internet and succeeding only by latching onto a weak signal. The global connection existed; some using it to spread their stories of disaster or faint hope, others preparing for the worst, perhaps even spreading rumours to allow people to go out believing there was a small chance of a miracle. Nothing short of a miracle would give mankind even a sliver of a chance against the Earthbound Gods. After all, the planet had been brought to its knees.

In spite of the grim setting around them, Saiga smirked and folded his arms over his chest. Ruka had been the one that insisted the laptop be recovered from the ruins of Satellite, used by both the twins shortly afterwards to keep tabs on the global scale of destruction. The fact that she insisted on using it so long after the two who inspired her were gone shed some of the weight pulling down his heart.

"You're just like him, you know?" he chuckled. "Trying to hold onto every little part of the others all you call. It's really something I would have expected from Yusei".

Ruka's hands froze above the keys, bringing a temporary halt to the tapping. She lifted her head, thinking back to the smiling face of the Tail Signer who inspired Rua and sparked courage inside of her. The three had formed a tight bond – something so easily decimated by the Earthbound Gods. Her eyes rose to Saiga, smiling briefly and faintly – a weak mask that anyone would be able to see through. It was quick and replaced almost immediately by the haunted, downcast look, restoring the usual appearance of the remorseful Signer. The reflections in her eyes flickered, reactivating the windows that had flashed across the monitor. Saiga sighed, his shoulders sagging and averted his eyes elsewhere. Even briefly, he had known Ruka prior to the war, coming to see her as a caring and lively girl; the polar opposite of what she had been reduced to. Everything he had known of the world had been subverted once and then flipped on its head once more. He scratched the back of his head, unsure how he was supposed to continue without risking further grief. It was a problem everyone had – they respected Ruka for having taken the mantle passed to her as one of the Signers, setting out to face the destined evil. No-one wished to cause her grief; nobody pictured the Signers' defeat as the group letting down the planet. She, on the other hand, couldn't see things like that.

"It's the closest thing we have to him being around. The same goes for Aki-san" the girl muttered, breaking her solemn quiet. Saiga's eyes sharply returned to the girl; she had little to say, especially when not prompted to speak. She had effectively lost her voice over the past two years. "I'm the only one that is here, so I've got to do all I can to keep the spirit of the Crimson Dragon alive".

"You can't be happy about it though" Saiga responded. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself, nobody else expects so much. Would it be more constructive to figure out any way of stopping those Earthbound Gods rather than sitting around and waiting for the end?"

"If four dragons couldn't stop five Earthbound Gods, what makes you think one can take down six?" Ruka asked, narrowing her eyes without taking them from the glowing monitor in front.

Saiga sighed heavily, resisting the urge to lean against the frail wall and instead marched forward standing on the other side of the table. He couldn't argue back – the odds before had been slim, growing more so with each day that passed. The Fifth Signer never made his appearance – at least, not in the way the others had hoped – nor did the fabled Fifth Dragon. The brunette's head hung, glaring towards the gravel floor beneath his feet, pondering the defecting of the blonde Signer, the only other whose location could be determined. It baffled him how the once-proud King had turned on his allies so easily.

"I can't believe it though…" he exhaled heavily. "How could someone as proud as Jack have submitted to the enemy and allow himself to be brainwashed like that?"

"I don't know" Ruka sighed. "He was driven by temptation once before, perhaps the Dark Signers were aware of that and made him an offer. I couldn't imagine that he would be swayed so easily – to allow the world to end for some kind of promise. But I can't see any other way; they must have found a weakness and used that against him. It seemed particularly in the woman who had the Hummingbird tower as her post – he chased after her once Rally died. Not to mention that when we were deciding everyone's moves, he was eager for targeting that location. It showed up at the Arcadia Movement as well, he came shortly after. He might have known her; I just wish I knew who it was and how she managed to find Jack's weakness so quickly".

"That guy was never short of surprises" Saiga scoffed, his arms tightening over his torso. "He came out of nowhere and ruled Neo-Domino as a Duel King for two years, only to be found out he was from Satellite all along. Who knows, maybe he had another hidden side to himself. Wouldn't put it past him".

"Who knows…?" Ruka repeated tonelessly. "He crumbled like everything else; law, society, respect. Once the Earthbound Gods took over, people demanded answers from Security, only for Godwin to disappear. The situation deteriorated from there. That's why the looting and riots happened; people were desperate for answers they weren't getting and were scared; they just wanted to survive. If they had the strength, an all-out civil war could have followed, but there were so many people dying. That might have been the only thing holding them back from such an extreme course of action. I can't understand why Jack would wish that on the world, even if he had been from Satellite and the people of the city turned against him when the truth came out".

"He was always selfish" Saiga snorted. "He turned his back on his friends once before, there was nothing stopping him from doing it a second time".

"No…" Ruka breathed. "There had to be something else; there was no way Jack would be so shallow. He and Yusei finally reconciled, we were working as a team. He couldn't have given up on everything just because of something the Dark Signers offered".

Saiga sighed, lowering himself to the ground and seated himself with legs bent vertically in front of him, leaning back casually. His arms fell onto the table, bent in front of him and watched the girl on the other side of the laptop.

"Maybe you've got that much faith in him, but I wouldn't put it past him just wanting to be on the winning side" he huffed. "Even after everything that the Signers did to take down the Earthbound Gods, those that were beaten just revived the instant the Meikai no Ou reached where it was going. Just makes the whole thing feel a bit pointless, I can see why your spirit has been so low. Maybe there's just not supposed to be a way of winning against those things".

"Godwin and the Crimson Dragon wouldn't have given us false hope like that" Ruka answered. "It couldn't be possible that a legend spanning 5000 years was supposed to end in defeat on its first repeat. Godwin said that it was to be a war that repeated itself every 5000 years; having it end so soon and without any resistance doesn't sound right".

Saiga scratched the back of his head. "They're just a real pain to deal with" he grunted. "The Dark Signers are supposed to be people who died with some kind of attachment to the Signers – they rise from the dead, then the Earthbound Gods do the same when they get beaten. It's endless".

"Rising from the dead…" Ruka whispered. "It sounds terrible, but people yearn for that kind of power just to increase their time on this planet. People seem desperate to want to live forever. No-one will get that chance now, nor would they wish to in a world like this. They'll be lucky to live out their normal lifespan".

"Meanwhile, those things survive as long as they want so long as their vessels are sustainable and they suck up more innocent people" Saiga grumbled, tucking his head angrily between his shoulders as though he were pouting. "There hasn't been anything from Yusei's friends, so I assume they were taken into those Earthbound bastards again".

"Even though they were saved when Uru was beaten the first time" Ruka sighed. Her eyes closed and brow furrowed with helpless frustration. "Rudger was another Signer; he should have been on our side, but turned against us. He told us his story and how Godwin had been charged with finding the rest of us. But I still can't understand why he wished to be sacrificed to trigger Zero Reverse or how he even became a Dark Signer. There were no others at the time – Yusei and Jack would have still been infants. There's so many questions that we have unanswered".

"And it all started going downhill when Rudger and Uru died" Saiga sighed. "He was so desperate that he even dragged Yusei down with him. He never appeared again from that gateway opened in Old Momentum. Then it had to be that Jack turned on us and Izayoi Aki vanished".

"Not just Aki-san, but Crow as well" Ruka added. "They both disappeared. And Demak was the one that… Rua…"

"Don't push yourself" Saiga whispered gently. "What matters is that man was defeated once by Rua, he would have just gone after him, blinded by wanting to level the score".

"But Rua was trying to help me" she choked "It's not like he would want to attack Demak to kill him. He would have wanted to help him from the negative emotions that transformed him into a Dark Signer, but he… he just can't see that. He went after Rua for interfering in a battle between Signers and did something unforgivable to him".

"And the same would have happened to the rest of us if not for Dr Schmidt" Saiga answered. "The only reason I'm still here is because he contacted me after everything happened. There hadn't been anything from Martha at that time, but we suspected she had gone back to the orphanage to look after any of the orphans left. He told me about what she said back then". Ruka lifted her head, curious to learn what the woman who had salvaged children from the wreckage of Zero Reverse had sworn. She was an inspiration to the twins who had seen those in Satellite as scary before landing at the place where Yusei, Jack and Crow had grown up. "Schmidt said that Martha swore to stay with the kids, even if it would cost her her life".

From the central window on the laptop, the blonde woman dressed in scarlet that had been a reporter during the Fortune Cup appeared; speaking into her microphone whilst surrounded by the ruins of what had been the area close to Security headquarters. Although she was alive and worked in the profession that had been her driving force for years, the woman had a small audience; the damage to transmitters often caused her reports to be cancelled and take to the Internet just to cover the stories, usually streaming her scenes through an old website that belonged to the station.

Ruka paid little attention to what the woman had to say, her mind lingering among the memories of the war three years before. What little information she retained surrounded the news of a recent earthquake; another sign of the Earth's balance weakening, effectively moving towards suicide, unable to sustain itself after Hell ripped open the crust of the planet. The environment had become wildly distorted from the expected; lava flows streaming down mounds of earth pushed up, buildings jutting out of the disintegrating ground at diagonal angles; something from a nightmare. The nightmare that another had seen shortly before it crossed the borders from fantasy to reality.

Ruka's eyes narrowed whilst fixed on the blonde woman's pixelated face, the signal fuzzy at best. The updates were only a way of tracking the Gods' progress, checking for any peculiar moves that the Dark Signers had made. It was a simple practice of tracking the enemy and predicting if danger would head their way. But Ruka's mind would always be elsewhere, unable to focus, strolling backwards through time. Wishing that she could return to the time when she could make a difference to the way the war played out.

By her feet, the white and pink Duel Disk she had worn in her duelling days rested on the floor, deck in place as in preparation for a duel that would never come. She had effectively retired from duelling at the age of three, once more after the failure to win over the Dark Signers, but the deck was in place as a monument of her past times. She reached down, pressing her fingertips against the back of the top card and closed her eyes. In a brief flash, she envisioned a metallic dragon coated in yellow armour, sporting a blue shovel for once claw and a large screwdriver with a bottle-green casing for the other. She pulled the card away carefully, turning it over and finding the very card.

"Rua…" she whispered gently.

The card that stared up at her wasn't one that fit into her deck's theme, but the creature she had envisioned. The dragon that belonged to her brother, leading him initially to believe he was a Signer and could fight alongside his beloved sister. A dragon that she had seen another similar, but met all the qualifications for one itself – Power Tool Dragon. Rua's soul.


End file.
